Potato-planter.



No. MUAH). Paened Jian. 2, |1900. H. E. JEWIE'E'T.

PTATU PLMNTIEIR.

(Application led Sept. 26, 1898.)

(No Nlodel.) 4 Shets-Shei l.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

No. @4U/HU. Patented lan. 2, i900.

` H. E. JEWETT.

IPTTO FL-'Hl'l'ElKv (Application led Sept. 26, 189B.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets--Shei 2.

INVENTOR WITN ESSES A TRNEYS.

No. 640,470. Patemd lian. 2, www H. IE. JEWETT.

IPUTMT'U PLAINTER.

(Application filed Sept. 26, 189B.)

'4 sheets-smet 3 (No Model.)

WIT'NESSES;

ATTORNEYS,

Patented `3.1m.

H. E. JEWIEH.

PTATU IPLNTER.

(Application filed Sept. 26, 1898.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

w e Aw VVETNESSES:

ATORNEYS.

' showing the outside,

sito

' Ilwrrisn drames rrre IIERBER'I E. JEWETT, OF ITHACA, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR TO MICHAEL liIC- NAMARA, ROCKWELL E. GAGER, AND ANSON Il.

J ENKS, OE SAME PLACE.

PTAI'UWIPLANTEH.,

SIEGIIEICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 640,470, dated January 2, 1900.

Application ned september 26,1898. serinrmeelme. (roman.)

To all whom t may concern:

Beit known that I, HERBERT E. J EWETT, of Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Potato-Planters, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in potato-planters.

lily object is to produce a planter of the class above referred to which shall be positive in its operation, so as to avoid the possibility of skipping, cheap and durable in its construction, and of great utility; and to that end rnyinvention consists in the several new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and which are specifically set forth in the claims hereunto annered.

It is constructed as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in whichlFigure 1 is a side view of the planter complete, ready for use, one wing of the coveringscraper being broken away to show the ground-opener. lEig. 2 shows a top plan view. lig. 3 shows a side View of the hopper detached, the portion at the left of the gure the middle section being broken away to show the rotating disk, and the right portion of the figure showing the potato-chute and the opposite side or end of the hopper.. Eig. I is a cross-section on line a.' so, Fig. 3. Il'ig, 5 shows an inner face view of a portion of the rotating dish. Eig. 6 is an enlarged section of a portion of the end'of the hopper and a rotating disk upon which the buckets are mounted, showing the spring-finger engaging the seed within the bucket. Fig. 7 is a similar view showing a portion of the springfinger just before it engages the seed. ltig. 8 is a face View of the spring-iinger, showing it in the position it would occupy when in engagement with the seed, showing it mounted in the dish, which is in cross-section .and within the hopper. Eig. 9 shows a similar View and showing one end in engage ment the track, so as to hold the arm which normally engages the seed finch with the face the dish, as shown Eig. 7. ITig. l shows a detail of the lmechanism by which the gearing engages to rotate the disk out of engagement. Y

Similar letters and figures of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A is the frame, composed of parallel bars 1, 2, and 3, cross-bars 4, 6, and 8, mounted upon the axle 9, upon which are mounted the wheels l0, and and 7 are cross-bars mounted on the covering-wings, and Bis a hopper having its upper side open, mounted just forward of the axle and between the frame-bars 2 and 3, having in one end a semicircular recess 11, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, which forms a raised trackway on the inner face of the hopper for the purposes hereinafter specified, the ends thereof being inclined, as shown at 12. I do not, however, limit myself to forming a recess in the end of the cylinder, as above de scribed, as it will be evident that the recess may be dispensed with, and the inner face of the hopper may be provided with a trackway. I preferably, however, construct the end of the cylinder of cast-iron and cast this recess therein, which forms the trackway of the inner side, for convenience, and because it is much cheaper to construct it in that way.

Within the hopper B, I mount a shaft 16, on one end of which and outside of the hopper is a sprocket-wheel 17, and within the hopper and adjacent to the end just described and upon the shaft 16 I secure a dislr 18, adapted to rotate with said shaft, and adjacent to the periphery of said disk I construct openings 19, and adjacent to these openings I secure arms 2 0, which serve as buckets to hold the seed. Upon the opposite face of the disk I mount rotatably fingers 21, one end of which is curved, as shownat 22, and 23 is preferably a coiled spring secured about the post 2li, which is in alinement with the pin 25, upon which the finger 21 is mounted, so as to imparta tension to the finger 21 lto hold it in position, (shown in Fig. 6,) so that it will normally hold a piece of seed between the end 22 and the arms 20 or bucltet. 'Ihe opposite end of finger 21 is provided with an antifrictional roller 26.

Just inside of the rotating dish 18 and within 'the hopper I secure a strap-spring 27, as shown in Fig. c, the free end of which j worlrs in the pathway of the huchetw-that is,

roo

at the point between the arm 2O and the disk lS-and secured to the hopper is a shorter strap-spring 2S, which meets it, as shown in Fig. l

Upon the axle 9 and outside of the hopper is a sprocket-wheel 29, loosely mounted, and having a sleeve 29', provided with gear-teeth 30' at its outer'end, and 30 is a sprocket-chain which connects the sprocket-wheel 29 and the sprocket 17, and by the rotation of the axle a rotary motion is imparted to the shaft 16, which in turn causes the disk 18 to rotate within the hopper. Beneath the hopper I place a covering device, which comprises wings 31, approaching each other as they approach their rear ends. These wings rest upon the ground and are connected to the frame fore and aft by rods 32 and 33, by which the ends are raised or lowered independent of each other, and counected at their forward ends with drawchains 34.

The ground-opener 1'5 is mounted midway between-the wings upon the draw-iron 35,

will.

and the lower end of the ground-opener 15 is yieldingly secured to the draw-iron 35 by some yielding connection 36, as by a coiled spring or a rod having a coiled springin the center, so as to allow the ground-opener to yield at its point, so as to prevent its being broken when it comesin contact with stones or other obstructions.

Upon one side of the frame I mount rotatably a quadrant or triangular bracket 37, as shown in Fig. 1, to one side of which I secure the rod 32, and to the other end Isecure a rod 38, which is secured to a bracket 39 pivotally. upon the rear of 4the frame. This bracket 39 is provided with an operating-arm 40, which is also provided with an ordinary spring-actuated pawl adapted to engage with a rack-bar 41, by which mechanism just described it will be observed that the forward end of the wings may be raised or .lowered at It will also be observed that by the rigid connection above described the wings may be forced into the earth at any reasonable depth, so as to cover-the seed to any desired depth. The rod 33 upon the rear end of the wings issecured direct to the bracket, having a handle which operates substantially similar tothe bracket 39 just described for the purpose oftllrowing the sprocket-wheel 29 in and out offgear, so as to prevent the working'of the dropping mechanism when it is desired fto ino-vel Vtbe-planter from one place to anothe'1.',aS,ffor..-instance, traveling along the road.' v y I have provided the axle 9 with a sleeve 42, having gear-teeth at one end and an annular recess 43, adjacent toits opposite end rigidly secured to the axle 9, and upon the side of the frame-bar 1 I secure an inclined bracket 44,'and through these I mount or pass the rod 45, upon the outer end of which is secured a bar 46, adapted to engage with said incline, and upon the opposite end I secure an arm so as to cause the disk 18 to rotate.

47, adapted to engage with the annular recess 43, and upon the rod 45 and between the bar A 1 and the arm 47 I mount a coil-spring 48 for the purpose of producing a tension tonormall'y hold the sleeve 42 in engagement with the sleeve 31'. 4

The upper end of the bar 46 yis secured to the bar 38, so that when the operator forces the handle-bar 40 backward, so as to draw the bar 38 backward for the purpose of raising the forward end of the wings, the'lower end of the bar 46 will pass up the incline 44 and draw the sleeve 42 outof engagement with the sleeve 30. A I

-My invention is operated as follows: I first throw the sprocket-wheel 29 into engagement,

The seedpotatoes are then placed in the hopper B, and when the disk having the arm 20passes around adjacent to the bottom more or less of the seed is caught in the position shown in Fig. 7. The finger 21, with its antifrictional roller 26 engaging with the trackway 12,holds the point 22 of said finger, as shown in Fig. 7; but as soon as it passes the trackway 12 the point 22 engages wiih the seed, as shown in Fig. 6, and while the seed within the pocket is passing between the springs 27 and 28 the seed is forced down to a position where the `finger 21 will securely hold it, and the disk then passes up over in its rotation, and when it gets above the chute 13 the roller 26v upon the finger again engages with the trackway 12 and disengages the 'seed and allows it to pass down through the chutes 13 and 14, and the spring-finger 21 is held in this position until the disk has rotated to the opposite side, where it makes the same operation.

Having described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Let-ters Patent, 1s

1. In a potato-planter, a hopper having a downward opening for the seed, combined with avertical disk placed in the hopper and IOO provided with openings near its outer edge,

and arms secured to the disk opposite the openings, the arms being made to extend `at an angle from the disk and form pockets to receive the potatoes, substantially asshown.

2. In a potato-planter, a hopper having a downward openin g for the seed, and a rotating disk placed therein having yopenings near its periphery, combined with bent or angular arms secured to the disk opposite the openings, and which arms serve to piek up the potatoes as the disk revolves, spring-actuated means for automatically grasping the potatoes, and means connected to the hopper for operating the fingers so as to cause them to release the potatoes, substantially as de-V scribed.

3. A potato-planter, comprising a hopper having a downward opening for the seed, a rotating disk mounted therein, openings in the face of said disk, arms secured to said disk, and laterally in alinement with said openings, spring-fin gers mounted adjacent to said openings and adapted to engage with the seed for the purpose of holding it Within the arms during rotation up to a predeterminedpoint, and means for rotating said disk.

4. A potato-planter, comprising a hopper, with a downward opening for the seed, and provided with asemicircular trackway upon the inner face of one of the ends,y a, rotating disk mounted in said hopper, openings in said disk, arms mounted adjacent thereto, having their free ends extending in line with said openings laterally, spring-fingers centrally mounted, one end adapted to engage the seed through the said opening, and the other end adapted to travel upon. said trackway, for the purpose of releasing the seed within said arm during rotation and up to a predetermined point, and means for rotating said disk.

5. A potato-planter, comprising a hopper, having a downward opening for the seed, a rotating disk mounted therein, arms mounted on the face of said disk for the purpose of receiving a, piece of seed, means for rotating the said disk, and a strap-spring, mounted to travel in the pathway of said arms, for the purposes specied. Y

6. n a potato-planter, a hopper, a verti-' cally-rotating disk mounted therein and provided With a series of openings near its outer edge, bent arms secured to the disk opposite the openings and serving to pick up the po tatoes, combined with spring-actuated fingers secured to the opposite side of the disk from the said arms,and arranged to operate through the openings in the disk so as to press the potatoes against the arms, and means connected with the hopper for causing the fingers to release the potatoes at predetermined times, substantially as speciied. f

7. In a potato-planter, a hopper, a Vertically-rotating disk placed therein, and provided With openings near its outer edge, bent arms secured to the disk opposite these openings, spring-actuated fingers secured to the disk opposite the openings on the opposite side from the arms for picking up the potatoes, and means connected with the hopper for operating said arms, combined with the spring 27 secured to the disk, and a second shorter spring secured to the hopper, and which have their ends approach each other,

ysubstantially as set forth.

ln witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of September, 1898.

HERBERT E. JEWETT. Witnesses:

M. A. FRANKLIN, HOWARD P. DENIsoN. 

